Black sesame paste

1. Place black sesame seeds into a food processor. Turn on the processor and grind the seeds until you see them starting to smear along the walls of the bowl and the sesame oil is starting to come out. Turn off the food processor and scrape the sides of the wall as needed.

2. Once the mixture looks a bit paste-y, turn off the food processor. Add honey and sesame oil. 

3. Turn the processor back on and grind until the paste is like a peanut butter-y consistency. 

4. Remove the finished paste from the food processor bowl into a clean container.

Before preparing batter

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2.Line cake pan with parchment paper.

Egg yolk mixture

1. Place egg yolks, salt, black sesame paste, and milk into a clean mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth.

2. Place cake flour, baking powder, and cornstarch into a fine mesh sieve, and sift the mixture into the bowl. Whisk until smooth.

3. To deepen the color, add a small drop of black food coloring and mix until incorporated. Don’t worry if it looks a bit pale. Once the cake bakes the color will darken significantly.

4.Set aside until needed.

Egg white mixture (meringue)

1. In a cleaning mixing bowl, add egg whites. Whisk manually or with an electric mixer until foamy like bath bubbles.

2. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until it looks white and opaque, like a loose shaving cream or milk froth.

3. Slowly sprinkle in caster sugar in three increments while continuously whisking. 

4. Continue whisking the egg whites until the stiff peaks form and the egg whites look a bit shiny.

Combine the two mixtures and bake

1. Using a spatula or a whisk, add a third of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Mix until completely incorporate.

2. Add another third of the egg whites and gently fold until mostly incorporated. Repeat with the final third of the egg whites.

3. Pour the combined mixture into the parchment lined cake pan. Spread the batter out evenly with a spatula if needed.

4. Tap the pan a few times on the counter to make sure there’s no big pockets of air on the bottom of the pan.

5. Bake in the 350F oven for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Roll the cake

1. Dampen a clean kitchen towel and lay it flat on a large cutting board.

2. Remove the cake from the baking pan using the parchment paper and place it on the counter or a wire cooling rack. Wait for it to cool slightly until it’s lukewarm to the touch and the cake to is dry and not tacky.

3. Place the damp kitchen towel on the cake top, and place the cutting board on top of the towel.

4. Grasp the parchment paper sling and the cutting board firmly and flip the cake over so the paper is on top.

5. Peel off the parchment paper. Start on the short end of the cake, gently roll the cake into a log shape with the damp towel. Keep the cake in the towel until completely cooled.

Make whipped cream

1. Place whipping cream, powdered sugar, and black sesame paste into a clean bowl. Whisk until medium to stiff peaks form.

Assemble the cake roll

1. Gently unwrap the cake from the kitchen towel and let it uncurl naturally. If the short ends remains curled it is fine and do not force it to lay flat.

2. Spread an even layer of whipped cream filling onto the cake, about a quarter of the cake’s height. You may not need all the whipped cream.

3. Roll the cake back up without the towel from the short end until it is back to the log shape.

4. Tightly wrap the rolled cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the whipped cream is firm, between 1 hour and overnight.

5. Trim off the ends of the roll for a neater slice. Slice the cake and serve.